Spotify Discovery Mode is an audience development tool that helps artists reach new listeners and grow their fanbase, with no upfront budget required.
When Discovery Mode is turned on for a track, it increases the likelihood (though not a guarantee) that your song will be recommended in select personalized listening contexts on Spotify. These contexts include Spotify Radio, Autoplay, and Spotify Mixes (Daily, Artist, Mood, Decade, and Genre Mixes).
Discovery Mode gives artists and labels the ability to influence Spotify’s personalization algorithm and drive long-term growth.
On average, artists in Discovery Mode experience:
- +50% increase in saves
- +44% increase in user playlist adds
- +37% increase in follows during the first month
Additionally, 58% of first-time artist discoveries through Discovery Mode come from listeners outside the artist’s home country, and participating tracks are streamed in an average of 100 markets during the campaign period.
Cost and Eligibility
There’s no upfront cost to participate in Spotify Discovery Mode. Instead, Spotify charges a commission on streams generated in Discovery Mode contexts. All other streams remain commission-free. This commission is deducted from your future Spotify royalties.
Eligibility requirements are handled by Spotify directly. For more information, please see their article here.
Artist Requirements
To use Discovery Mode, your artist team must:
- Have at least 3 eligible songs
- Have 25,000+ monthly listeners (Discovery Mode works best with this audience size or larger)
- Have an active Spotify for Artists team registered in an eligible country
Track Requirements
A song is eligible for Discovery Mode if it:
- Has been released on Spotify for at least 30 days (earliest release date applies if there are multiple versions)
- Has received 20+ streams in Discovery Mode contexts within the last 28 days
- Met Spotify’s monetization eligibility criteria in the previous month
How to Submit Your Music for Spotify Discovery Mode
You can easily opt in through your Too Lost account:
- Navigate to the Spotify Discovery Mode tab.
- Click Opt-in Track.
- Choose Select Track to opt in a single song or Select Release to opt in an entire release.
- Review your selection and click Submit.
Keep in mind, while you can submit ineligible releases through your Too Lost account, Spotify will only approve tracks that meet Discovery Mode’s eligibility criteria, listed above.
How to Track Your Discovery Mode Campaign
You can monitor your Spotify Discovery Mode campaign through multiple avenues.
- Too Lost Analytics Portal
- Under Select platform, click Spotify.
- Click Discovery Mode Streams.
- Too Lost Reports Portal
- Click Additional Reports.
- Select Spotify Discovery Mode.
More information about Spotify Discovery Mode is available here.